


Like A Knight...In Pajama Pants?

by kyxgrey



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Black Eye, Blood and Injury, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, College Rhett and Link, First Aid, First Kiss, Fist Fights, Gay Link, I worked hard on this but it's still bad, Implied player link, It's implied Link has had a lot of sex, Jealous Rhett McLaughlin, M/M, POV First Person, POV Third Person, Pining Link, Pining Rhett, Rhett is a badass, Small use of the slur starting with an f, Swearing, Violence, bisexual Rhett, kind of, mentions of cuts, sorry i tried
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-15 11:59:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17528297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyxgrey/pseuds/kyxgrey
Summary: Rhett was driving back to campus alone from the frat party. He hadn't shown up by himself, his best friend Link had been with him, but he had left early with some girl. If they went to her place or his, he wasn't sure and he didn't care. The blond was angry. Not at Link, not really. Except he really believed in that moment if he saw them together in the dorm rolling around on the crappy futon sofa they crammed into the room, he's positive he would punch Link.or: Rhett is in love with Link but won't say anything. Link has a reputation that gets him into trouble but luckily he has a knight in shining armor...kind of.





	Like A Knight...In Pajama Pants?

**Author's Note:**

> This has been 3 weeks in the works.  
> I tagged everything but warning: The F slur is used, There is mild mentions of slut shaming, Cuts are mentioned after a fight, Blood briefly mentioned not in detail.  
> Loosely inspired by Somewhere In My Car by Keith Urban.  
> Maybe the title doesn't have much to do with it but I thought it was cute.  
> The point of view starts as third person but moves to first person Rhett. 
> 
> Beta read by my brother.

Rhett was driving back to campus alone from the frat party. He hadn't shown up by himself, his best friend Link had been with him, but he had left early with some girl. If they went to her place or his, he wasn't sure and he didn't care. The blond was angry. Not at Link, not really. Except he really believed in that moment if he saw them together in the dorm rolling around on the crappy futon sofa they crammed into the room, he's positive he would punch Link. Pulling up to their building, he stopped the car and looked around the parking lot to see if any of the cars looked unfamiliar. He got an unrecognizable feeling, washing over him in waves, as he realized the only cars here belonged to the other people in the building. Sighing, he turned the engine off and shrugged his seat belt away before getting out.

 

Making the short walk to the front door of the building was hell. Every small little sound made him jump. The cool nighttime air bit at his skin, making his face flush. Pushing the heavy metal door open he stepped inside the building. The hallway is empty aside from another student passed out near his door. Rolling his eyes, he does what he always does and wakes the poor dude up, helping him to bed and then leaving but not before finding the guy's aspirin and putting it within reach. He knows his way around every room in his building for this exact reason. For some reason he's the only one here not interested in drinking his liver into failure or sleeping with as many people as possible. Link doesn't get drunk, but he has taken to keeping a little black book of one night stands. Rhett never thought his childhood friend would be the type to sleep around but he's slept with most of the the girls here. It must be his charm or something that makes them all still talk to him, despite ditching them after one fun night.

 

You've gotta give him credit though, because he never sleeps with anyone who's drunk. Link has this really big thing about making sure both parties are sober enough to consent, which is the right thing to do. It's endearing really, how even when all he is thinking about is getting off, that he cares enough to be safe with it. He was just glad his friend's morals hadn't slipped to much. Link may be a player, but he is the sweetest one Rhett's met. In fact, there was one party where he pulled out a breathalyzer for the girl because he didn't trust that she hadn't been drinking too much. Well he's not a total buzzkill, one drink but nothing more, for either party if they want sex. Rhett hates that his brain always supplies him with, "If you wouldn't hate me for it we could skip the party altogether and have fun ourselves; no drinks involved". Laying down on the bottom bunk, his bed, Rhett stares at the underside of his friend's bed. If he was honest with himself, his feelings for Link started the day they met, even if he didn't realize until junior year of high school what exactly they were. Despite knowing for awhile he liked his weird quirky best friend, he didn't admit the feelings to himself until they started college two months ago. The timing was shit, he knew it, but there was no denying the pure jealously that flared through him when that tall blonde chick pushed Link against the brick column outside the library to slide her hand down his body before slipping her number and hand into his jeans and walking off. If his momma hadn't raised him not to hit girls he would have knocked that girl out for touching his friend like that, except it wasn't his call anyway and judging by the boner Link had he wasn't thinking of punching her.

 

So he didn't say anything. Rhett came out as bisexual the second week of college and no one blinked an eye. He didn't date though, made out with a few people, a frat guy named Drew, Sarah the debate cpatian, and Kyle the guy from study group. No one had made the cut though, no one got along with Link. They all called him strange and Sarah went as far as calling him a man whore. Rhett had thrown her out of his car and made her walk the rest of the way to her dorm in the rain. He didn't care how many people someone slept with, there was never an excuse to slut shame. It wasn't just that though, no one compared to Link either. Apparently he had a type and that type was his best friend whom he met in first grade.

 

_~~~~~~_

If he closed his eyes hard enough, he could see a world where Link didn't sleep around and instead only kissed him. Maybe they got together the first week of college or maybe prom night senior year of high school. But in that world they were together, in that world Rhett wasn't terrified of losing his best friend because they felt the same. The perfect world is the one where they spent the day before leaving for college at the Cape Fear river swimming and making out on the bank. Except they didn't live In that world. In reality they didn't feel the same. In the real world Rhett was openly bi but too coward to admit his feelings to Link. Here they didn't get together at prom, they didn't make out on the bank of the Cape Fear river. No they didn't do any of it, here they're just best friends and roommates. Here they go on dates with other people, here Rhett buries himself in essays and research until he passes out in the library. This isn't anything like that perfect world he's dreamed up, because in this world Link is across campus in a dorm fucking some redhead named Heather. Here Link isn't with him; he's with someone else.

 

Rolling onto his side he breathes in trying to keep the tears from falling. He's a grown adult crying over his best friend not having feelings for him. It's embarrassing how many nights he's cried himself to sleep knowing that in that moment Link is with some girl having the time of his life. He should feel happy for his friend, but he can't pretend that the amount of girls Link sleeps with doesn't bother him. Well it's not the amount, really, just the fact it's not him.

 

_~~~~~~_

 

The sound of yelling wakes me up. Groaning, I looks at the clock, it's three am which means I've only been asleep for two hours. Another muffled shout from the hallway then a pained yell from a voice I knows too well. Jumping out of bed not bothering with a shirt I cross the short distance to the door swinging it open. The scene in front of me makes my blood boil. Link is pinned against a wall by the same frat guy who had been throwing the party. His shirt is balled into the guys fist and there's blood on his cheek. Heather, the redhead he'd left with is on the floor crying trying to push the guy off him. "You think I'm gonna believe that you two are just friends Neal? I don't buy into your closeted fag bullshit; you have a reputation for sleeping around with all the girls." He punches Link in the jaw, pulling a scream from the girl but Link is looking at me. The now dull from pain blue eyes are boring into my soul as I take in what's happening. Stepping out into the hall, I clear my throat. As the guy turns around he lets out a manic laugh. "Oh look it's your bestie! Come to save your princess McLaughlin? Heads up; he's a slut." I smile at the guy before pulling my arm back, then swinging it forward in an upper cut that collides with the underside of his jaw, throwing his head back with the force. He groans in pain, letting go of Link to grab at his face. "Get the fuck out of our building you asshole." I grit my teeth as I speak, trying to hold back the white hot rage running through my veins. He makes a move to grab at the girl and she starts crawling backwards. "Come here you bitch!" he snaps blood flying out of his mouth as he speaks. Stepping in his space I push him back into the wall full force. "No. She stays too. Now. Leave." My jaw is set hard and my glare is warning him to make a move anywhere other than the front door. After a few moments of intense silence and him staring me down, he spits blood onto my bare feet before flipping me off and going out the door.

 

At the sound of the door closing I helped the girl up. "You can sleep on my bed, I'll take the futon. I don't trust him not to follow you back to your dorm even if someone comes to get you." She gives me a weak smile and kisses my cheek before going into our room. When she's inside I turn to Link who is now crumpled to the ground in a ball sobbing. My chest tightens as I watch his smaller frame shake, his longer hair hanging into his eyes. Dropping to my knees I carefully take his face in my hands and tilt his head where I can see the damage. His right eye is starting to bruise a little, his bottom lip is split with a drop of dried blood on it, there's a gash on his left cheek from what I can only assume is a ring. "What happened bo?" the tears running down his face are mixing with the little bit of blood making for a heartbreaking scene. He's looking everywhere but my face. "We were at her dorm talking. He came in as we were pouring wine. I swear Rhett we were just talking, she knows, fuck every girl here knows…I…." The words die in his throat as another sob escapes. Suddenly Heather is next to me handing me our first aid kit. I nod a thanks as she retreats back into the room. Deciding to give him time to collect himself, I open the kit and get out the hydrogen peroxide and a cotton swab. I pop the lid open and flip his hands over where I know a few gashes are from him trying to fight back. "This is gonna sting, but not as bad as if it was alcohol." The nod he gives is so small I wouldn't have seen it if I hadn't been looking for it. Tipping the bottle, the liquid pours out over his wounds and he lets out a low hiss, the liquid starts to bubble in the wound doing it's job. I keep his hands like that before wetting the cotton swab and cleaning the gash on his cheek. Looking through the open door at the girl who is sitting on my bed holding herself I frown. "Heather I need a wet wash cloth and a dry one. Or hell get me some paper towels from the bathroom." I see her nod then turn my attention back to Link. He looks dazed like he might fall asleep. "Link? You're not feeling light headed are you? No concussions?" he shakes his head "No just tired. Long night,I feel…empty?" I open my mouth to say something as the redhead comes back with my supplies. "Thanks", she smiles as I gently press the warm cloth to his cut lip. "Ow what the crap!", he yanks back my hand flaying up to keep his head from slamming into the wall.

 

"For someone who just got the crap beat out of him you sure do whine a lot." I roll my eyes and he sticks his tongue out at me ever so slightly. Carefully I fold the cloth in half and clean his eye, then dry it all with paper towels before opening the ointment and applying it to his deeper cuts. Putting the last Band-Aid on his cheek I pause to look at him. His cheeks are tinted pink and his breathing is ragged. "Link?" his eyes meet mine and my breath catches in my throat. It's like time has frozen in this one moment completely, as if there's nothing that exists outside of the bubble we've built in this hallway. He looks behind me and smiles fondly. Turning I see Heather who has now put her hair in a messy bun and is leaning against the door to our room half asleep. "You should tell him Link, he deserves to know." Her smile is bright and with a small nod from Link she walks back into the room and climbs in bed. "Tell me what?" I look back at him curiously. He takes my hand in his and my heart starts beating so fast I fear that it might leap out at him like a cat in the dark waiting for it's prey. "I'm, well you see the thing is…I'm gay Rhett, have been for awhile now. I've also been kind of hopelessly in love with you for awhile and didn't know what to say." I feel like all of my air has been stolen and replaced with water. "What about all of those girls, I don-". "Never really slept with them. They all agreed to help me make you jealous because they themselves needed to get a reaction out of someone. Heather was the first to know." I lean back on my heels and take a deep breath in. This whole time he's liked me back, this whole time we could have been together. Putting the supplies from the first aid kit back inside the box before closing it. I can feel his eyes on me as I move to stand. Helping him to his feet I turn around pausing at the door with my back turned so he can't see the confusion on my face. "We'll talk about this in the morning. Get some sleep Link." I throw the trash into the small bin we have and sit the kit on my desk before grabbing a blanket and pillow. Flopping down on the small futon I try not to think about anything that just happened.

 

_~~~~~~_

There's a hand gently shaking me awake from my dream. Stretching reveals that it was not in fact a dream. "Fuck." I hear an amused laugh, one of my favorite sounds. "Did  Heather leave?" The hand is removed from my shoulder as I sit up, cringing as my entire back pops in one hollow sound. "Just a second ago." As my eyes clear I am able to take in my best friend. His hair is a mess and there's a nasty looking purple ring around his right eye now. The cuts are still covered with Band-Aids and his lip is swollen. He's shirtless showing his lean but muscular torso, the flannel pajama pants ride low on his hips revealing the band of his boxers. The sun is barely shining through the curtains we have up, how Link is even functioning is beyond me. Groaning I run my hand trough my hair before scrubbing it over my face. I can feel his eyes watching my every move making me overly aware I'm still shirtless myself. "I can feel you staring at me bo." There's a soft thud that when I move my hand a little is identified as the water bottle he had been holding. Smiling at his clumsy nature, I put both arms behind my head and arch forward a little to let my back pop again. I see him wince at the loud cracking sound it causes. "You're never sleeping on that thing again", he says as he bends to pick up his bottle to sit it on his desk. "And you're never going anywhere near a frat party again so I won't have to." It comes out snappier than I meant for it to so I give an apologetic smile. Getting up I move to my bed which doesn't smell like Heather's perfume; instead it smells like Link's shampoo. I throw him a questioning look. "She took my bed instead, something about not liking bottoms." He smirks at his joke. Laughing I lean back against the wall to watch him as he subconsciously cleans things. It's a habit he has when he's nervous about something. Opening my arms I beckon him over.

 

He looks hesitant at first but comes over slowly before sitting on the edge of the bed. Rolling my eyes I pull him backwards into my chest and he huffs in surprise. "It's the same for me bo." he leans his head on my left shoulder to look at me a question forming in his eyes. "What are you talking about Rhett?" He shifts a little in my arms until he's comfortable. Keeping one arm wrapped around his waist, I intertwine our free hands as he studies my face. I can practically see the thoughts forming in his head. "I've been in love with you for awhile now too." His eyes shine as his signature lopsided smile forms on his face. I let go of his hand and bring it up to cup is chin as I lean forward to press our lips together. He hisses in pain and I move back. "Shit, sorry Link." His laugh rings in my ear as he shakes his head and pulls me in again. "Don't apologize for kissing me dumbnut", he mumbles against my lips. We kiss for a minute and it's slow and wonderful until we need to come up for air. He hides in my neck as we catch our breath. "Hey Link?" the answer is a hum against my skin. "I love you." I can feel his smile as he presses a kiss to my collar. "Love you too." I feel my stomach grumble and Link laughs. "Let's go get some breakfast." He stands up, walking across to our dressers. I watch as he pulls out a shirt from mine and throws it at me. "Sounds great to me bo." I smile at him as I pull the shirt on. By the time I get up he's ready to go. Taking his hand we head out the door.

**Author's Note:**

> There you have it everyone my first Rhink fic. I'm proud of this work and it took me awhile to finish. Any comments are welcome because I care what my readers think.  
> Follow me on Tumblr or Twitter @ kyxgrey but only if you want to. Thank you for reading.


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